Elmer Davis

Learn about Elmer Holmes Davis (1890–1958): journalist, radio commentator, wartime information chief, and defender of free communication in America.

Introduction

Elmer Holmes Davis was an American journalist, author, radio commentator, and public servant born on January 13, 1890 and who died on May 18, 1958.

Early Life and Education

Elmer Davis was born in Aurora, Indiana, the son of Elam Holmes Davis (a bank cashier) and Louise Severin Davis (a teacher/educator)

He began working early: during high school, Davis worked as a printer’s devil for the Aurora Bulletin—a menial job in a newspaper setting, handling typesetting and related tasks. Indianapolis Star.

He attended Franklin College (Indiana), and while there worked for the Indianapolis Star. Rhodes Scholarship to Queen’s College, Oxford, in about 1910.

Early Career in Journalism and Writing

After returning from England, Davis entered the world of writing and journalism. He joined Adventure magazine as an editor and short story writer early in his career. The New York Times (around 1914 onward).

In 1924, he left The New York Times to pursue freelance writing—novels, essays, magazine work. History of the New York Times, 1851–1921, and several novels.

Radio and Rise to National Prominence

In August 1939, CBS asked Davis to fill in as analyst for H. V. Kaltenborn, who was covering developments in Europe.

By 1941, Davis’s nightly five-minute newscast/commentary reportedly had an audience of around 12.5 million listeners.

World War II & the Office of War Information

With the U.S. entry into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Davis to head the newly formed Office of War Information (OWI) in 1942.

Davis often pushed for greater transparency even within wartime constraints. For example, he advocated lifting bans on publishing photos of dead American soldiers on the battlefield, so that the public would better understand the human cost.

Under Davis, the OWI also managed the Bureau of Motion Pictures, coordinating with Hollywood to produce information and morale-building films.

Postwar Career, Broadcasting & Advocacy

After the war, Davis returned to broadcasting, this time working with ABC Radio. Pulitzer Prize Playhouse (1950–52) and appeared as himself in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).

In the postwar era, Davis was critical of Senator Joseph McCarthy and anti-communist excesses. He spoke out against conflating dissent with disloyalty and defended civil liberties in a politically charged climate.

Davis retired from broadcasting in 1953 following a heart attack.

Personality, Principles & Style

Davis’s style was marked by clarity, restraint, and integrity. He avoided sensationalism, believing that citizens deserved truthful, well-sourced information—even in times of crisis.

He moved seamlessly between journalism, government service, and public commentary—but he always maintained an emphasis on public trust and democratic information.

Legacy and Impact

Elmer Davis left a durable imprint on American journalism, wartime communication, and the principles of public information. Some of his lasting contributions include:

• Establishing a standard for warfare communication that balanced public information with necessary secrecy.

• Emboldening the idea that the American public deserves honesty, especially during crises.

• Influencing later generations of broadcasters and public communicators who saw him as a model of integrity.

• Receiving honors including multiple Peabody Awards, the duPont Award, and foreign decorations (such as the Order of Orange-Nassau, Order of the White Lion).

• His writings—journalistic, nonfiction, and fictional—continue to illustrate the breadth of a communicator who crossed genres.

Davis’s belief that truth and well-reasoned explanation strengthen democracy remains influential in debates about media, government transparency, and civic responsibility.

Selected Quotes

Here are a few notable statements attributed to Elmer Davis:

• “This republic was not established by cowards; and cowards will not preserve it.”

• “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”

• “The first and great commandment is, don’t let them scare you.”

• “When a middle-aged man says in a moment of weariness that he is half dead, he is telling the literal truth.”

• “One of the things that is wrong with America is that everybody who has done anything at all in his own field is expected to be an authority on every subject under the sun.”

Conclusion

Elmer Holmes Davis was a journalist who believed deeply in the public’s right to know, even in times of danger. From his small beginnings in Indiana to his role as wartime information chief, and later as a respected radio personality and public intellectual, Davis navigated complex tensions between secrecy and openness with moral clarity. His life reminds us that integrity in communication is not merely ideal—it can shape how a nation understands itself, its challenges, and its responsibilities.